


Flash

by ZZ_Chikorita



Series: Jolly Rogers [28]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, Coming of Age, Flashbacks, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24688768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZZ_Chikorita/pseuds/ZZ_Chikorita
Summary: No rough housing in the library!
Relationships: Guzma & Kukui-hakase | Professor Kukui, Guzma & Mullein | Molayne, Guzma/Kukui-hakase | Professor Kukui, Kukui & Molayne
Series: Jolly Rogers [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680463
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	Flash

**Author's Note:**

> Ch. 28

Malie is a beautiful, bustling port city on Ula'ula with an interesting history.  
What started out as part small Johtonian ghetto, part trade center, developed into a massive cultural hub with traditional Johto architecture and rustic, cobblestone streets. 

The library was nestled up at the northern end of the city next to a quaint, little community center. Whenever first entering the front doors, Guzma was always hit with what he'd describe as the distinct smell of old books mixed with that unmistakable, musty scent of overworked air conditioning.  
It's a pleasantly familiar smell to say the very least. 

The boys were up in a private study room on the second floor; several books were strewn about the table. They flipped through the books on their laps and read silently to themselves.  
Occasionally, Guzma would nudge his friend in the arm and point at a word on the page as a way to ask him what it means or how to say it. He'd simply smile with his dark eyes and explain it all the best that he could.

They've only been there for about 45 minutes, the first quarter hour or so spent seeking out the books from the chicken scratch of decimal codes on the slip of paper Kukui brought with them. Regardless, Guzma could already feel the slowly growing weight of exhaustion on his mind and body.

This was a lot of information he was trying to take in all of a sudden. A lot of mentally taxing information, too. On top of it all, a headache was beginning to creep across his temple. He always gets those when concentrating just a little too hard on... well... just about anything. 

The fair skinned boy scrunched up his face and squinted his eyes as the words on the page pulsed nauseatingly in and out of focus.  
He must of read the same line a dozen times before finally absorbing what it said. 

Wait...  
Nope.  
Didn't absorb it yet... gotta try again.

'Growth... boys... some...'

Guzma pressed the heel of his hand against his eye and rubbed a bit.  
A dozen and one.

'Experience... undergo... different...'

 _Damnit..._  
A dozen and two...

'Some boys undergo growth spurts, but everyone's different...'

"Guz-?"

Guzma flinched when Kukui set his hand on his arm.

"Oh, s-sorry," he apologized, quickly retracting his hand.

"No, it's ok... I was just super focused..."

Guzma internally scoffed at his own comment. Focus? Ha! What's that? He ain't never heard of her!

"Wanna take a break, maybe?"

"Yes, please."

Kukui got up and ruffled his friend's hair as he walked toward the door. 

"I'm gonna grab a drink, ya want somethin'?"

"I can't pay you back."

"No one's askin' ya to."

Guzma set his book on the table and wrung his hands a bit.

"Just water s'fine..."

"Sure ting maka 'eleu," he said leaning down and kissing Guzma's cheek.

"Kukui!" he whined, dragging out the last syllable and burying his flushed face in his hands, "We's in public!"

"There ain't nobody around," he argued playfully, motioning to the glass sliding door. 

There were only a couple other people within eye shot and they were either turned away or completely engulfed in whatever it was they were reading.

Guzma looked away, self consciously rubbed his arm, and grumbled, "Word gets 'round..."

The dark haired boy turned his back and put his hands in his pockets.

"...I know... I'm sorry..."

Kukui left without saying anything more.

Guzma let his forehead thump down onto the table.

"Ow..."

Idiot! Why did he say that? He knows that Kukui is more than painfully aware that they gotta be careful! He didn't need to say it and make him feel bad.

He lifted his head a couple inches and let it thump back down again.

"Owww..."

They were so good for such a long time! Well... _mostly_ good...  
He'd be a big fat liar if he said he never snuck out in the dead of night to meet Kukui on Mahalo Trail and cuddle up against him while they watched the stars... or stole a kiss or two (or ten) while bumming around in the dense foliage of Lush Jungle.

He dropped his head again.

"Owwwie ow-owwww."

However, he admits that when they started out on their trials, they began to get more and more careless.  
That meant lots of beatings, nights without dinner, and sleeping in the yard. Not that he wasn't getting beat and all that anyways...  
But he always felt like his dad exhibited a _lot_ less restraint during those specific incidents. 

A lot less restraint _and_ a hell of a lot more rage...

Guzma tilted his head up and was about to let it thump down once again, but Kukui intercepted him with his palm. 

"You told me you'd knock that off," he reminded him gently. He brushed his thumb over the red spot on the boy's pale forehead and added, "That's no way to treat ya Makaloa."

"Oh shaddup," he retorted while brushing his hand from his face, "ya sound like my mom."

A small yet coy smile snuck across his face and Kukui gladly returned it. 

He handed him a Fresh Water frosted over with condensation and retook his seat.

Guzma scooted his chair back a foot. As he uncapped the bottle and took a long drink, he tilted his chair back and forth by pushing the sole of his foot against the edge of the table. 

"Bruh, what ya doin'? This ain't yo livin' room," teased the dark haired boy.

"Y'all gotta quit that, cuz now ya _really_ sound like my mom."

Kukui chuckled and retrieved the open book Guzma had set on the table earlier.

His eyes moved back and forth as he skimmed over the page, pausing every so often to take a sip from his own bottle. 

"You readin' 'bout growth spurts?"

"Tryin' to," he admitted, "It says it don't happen te everyone so maybe I won't even got te worry 'bout it..."

Kukui paused mid drink.  
He set the bottle and book down. He propped his elbow up on the table and leaned on his fist.

Guzma glanced over and noticed the smirk on Kukui's face.

"Why ya eyeballin' me?" Guzma demanded.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

Kukui let out a long sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Guzma, stand up," he finally said.

"Why?"

"Stand. _Up_ ," he articulated.

Guzma dropped his foot, causing the front legs of the chair to hit the carpeted ground with a dull _thud_. He furrowed his brow.

Why's Kukui being like this? Is he mad about earlier?

Determined not to upset his friend any more, he obeyed and got up from his chair. He buried his hands up to his mid forearms in the pockets of his shorts and shot a look at the other boy.

"Ok... I'm standing."

"Stand up _straight_."

Is he slouching? Oh... yeah... apparently he is... like a lot. Whatever....

Guzma rolled his neck and shoulders back causing some audible pops and cracks to resonate within the small room.

He raised an eyebrow at his friend who was still seated and idly wrapping/unwrapping a lock of hair around his finger.

"Guzma. Here's what we's gon' do," he began, staring up at him with those piercing eyes, "I'm gonna stand up, too. And you're gon' tell me anything you observe that's... off or different. A'ight?"

"Umm... ok..."

Where on Earth is he going with this? And would it kill him to not be as vague as humanly possible?

Kukui stood up and took a step toward his friend. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited with his head cocked. 

Guzma pulled the yellow framed sunglasses off his head and ran his pale fingers through his even paler hair.  
_Ok, let's see... what do I observe?_ he pondered in his head, _Well... Kukui's hair looks real soft and curly today... he's wearing his hoodie with the front open and sleeves pushed up... and Arc-DAMN he's super cute! His eyes are dark and nani... his skin is nani... his face is nani... his lips are... just freaking perfect-  
Wait... no, no, no! All that stuff might be true but none of it is 'off or different'._

Guzma replaced his glasses and glanced down at himself.  
_Maybe it has to do with me? I look... the same as always. White as a litwick...  
Well... I got those weird marks on my arms but ya can't see 'em with this shirt on. Umm... Tapu Koko... I just don't know what's going on in the big, beautiful brain of his..._

"Anything?"

Guzma shook his head.

"Alrighty then, we'll try something else..."  
Kukui took another step closer.  
"Let's say, hypothetically, I wanna touch my forehead to yours, yeah? But, you're not allowed to move at all."

"Ok..."

"Just, stand still a minute and look at what I have to do..."

Kukui proceeded to rest his hands on Guzma's shoulders to balance himself while standing up on his tip toes. He stretched up and met his forehead to his friend's.  
After a moment, he lowered himself back down.

Wait...  
Lowered? _Down?_ That means-

" **I'M _TALLER_ THAN YOU?!**" he blurted out in a tone dripping with the most absurdly sincere amount of shock that Kukui's ever done heard in all his thirteen years of life.

As he giggled behind his hand, he put his index finger up to Guzma's lips to remind him that although they are in a private room, they're still in a library and should probably tone it down a few decibels. 

"Whoops, sorry," he murmured while rubbing the back of his head.

When the hell did this happen? The two of them were always about the same height, Kukui maybe being a half inch or so taller.

The white haired boy grabbed his friend's hand and pressed their palms together. He could bend the first knuckle of each finger down over Kukui's fingertips.

Seriously! When did this happen?! And how the hell didn't he notice?! 

At that moment, he became extremely aware for the very first time that he was looking _down_ to meet his friend's eyes.  
It feels... weird.

When he thinks back... he's never felt exceptionally small next to Kukui... rather, he never felt like he had to look _up_ to meet his gaze.  
They were always eye to eye.  
Right?  
Except... maybe times when he'd stumble to Kukui's house in the dead of night after a bad beat down. He recalls how absolutely tiny and vulnerable he feels in those moments of sobbing into his friend's chest...

"Are you... upset?" Kukui asked thoughtfully, noticing the pensive look behind his eyes.

Guzma blinked a couple times and then shook his mop of a head, his white curls bouncing to and fro. 

"No way!" he quickly began to rebut with an ear to ear grin, "I ain't upset! It just means I can do _this_!"

He placed a hand on either side of Kukui's svelte waist and lifted him into the air. He spun them around a couple times before gently setting Kukui up on the table and kissing him square on the mouth.

The boy giggled somewhere between excitedly and bashfully and half-heartedly pushed him away.

"What happened to that whole ' _we's in public_ ' thing, hm?" he teased. 

"You were right"-he kissed his neck-"Ain't nobody around"-he kissed his cheek-"Besides"-he kissed his nose-"ya so _damn_ cute I can't even stand it!"

Kukui melted as he allowed Guzma to map out his entire face with his tender, pink lips. 

Eventually, he placed one hand on Guzma's forearm, lovingly tracing the keloid scar that's there. He took his other hand and buried his fingers in Guzma's hair.  
At some point, he became impatient and tugged ever so slightly to gently redirect him back to his mouth. 

Guzma was sure his heart was beating right out of his chest.  
He can't get enough of the feeling of his palms encompassing Kukui's warm, soft waist. His even softer lips were incredible too and make him feel like he's burning up inside. But it's a good burn. Like a 'you just walk out into the sun after being inside in the air conditioning for too long' kind of burn.

He savored the sensation of the other boy delicately trapsing his fingertips up and down his arm. Chills traveled through his limbs as Kukui gently clawed at his scalp.

Arceus! There ain't _**nothing**_ better than this!

Unless...

A tantilizing thought crept into his mind. Maybe he should try to do that thing... the thing he's seen on TV a bunch of times. What's it called? A Kalosian kiss? It sounds kind of gross when he first thinks about it but... it might be fun to try...?

_***Knock, knock, knock!*** _

They froze.  
Eyes wide, they hesitantly turned toward the door.

On the other side of the glass stood a scrawny boy of their age with fair skin and scraggily, ash blonde hair. His cheeks were flushed and he had a hand over his eyes, under a pair of thick glasses.  
He parted his fingers to peek at them and waved impishly with his free hand before gesturing to the door handle.

Guzma and Kukui exhaled their bated breath.

Kukui jumped down and went over to unlock the door.

Guzma wandered over to the back corner of the room and pressed the top of his head into the wall, waiting for his steaming face to cool off.

"Arceus, Mo! Ya almost gave us a heart attack!"

The beanpole of a kid adjusted his glasses and mumbled without making eye contact, "Haha... sorry... I wandered by five minutes ago and you guys were... um... 'busy'... so I left and came back and y'all were _still_... you know..."

Kukui elbowed him in the arm and they both snickered.

"I figured if I actually wanted to spend any time with you guys before dinner rolls around I'd have to make my presence known."

"You're probably right..."

It was faint, but there was a hint of embarrassment in Kukui's voice.

Molayne's a good friend and one of few people the two of them are comfortable showing any amount of PDA in front of... not that they _purposefully_ try to do that considering how easily embarrassed Guzma gets in any given situation.

"Ya really gotta go hiking with us sometime, Momo!" said Kukui as he closed the couple open books on the table and stacked them all in a neat pile, "Can't remembah te last time we all hung outside of Malie."

Molayne pushed up his glasses and set down his backpack on one of the spare chairs.

"Oh geez Kukui, you know my Auntie doesn't like me leaving Ula'ula except for school."

"She let you start ya trials, didn't she?" 

"Yeah, after _weeks_ of begging! Then I _still_ had to get a hand written letter from Kahuna Hala vouching for the validity of the whole process!"

Kukui just shrugged and nodded at that.

Molayne's aunt can be a bit overprotective. As far as they know, he's the only family she's got. Which means that she's the only family he's got, too...  
But she still doesn't need to worry like she does. In general, Molayne would prefer to stay inside and tinker with his electronics anyways. Even so, the two kanakas would be more than thrilled to have him along on their various escapades.  
He's a lot of fun and wicked clever. Kukui gets straight A's but he has to study like a madman and his parents make him see a math tutor after school three times a week.  
Molayne _never_ has to study for math. He still does, but he doesn't _have_ too.  
As for Guzma? Well... he would rather step on a palossand than have to solve for 'x'. It's a good thing he always has either one or both of them to help him out with his homework.

"How's your beldum? Hard at training?"

"They're doing great! Thanks for asking! I think they're close to evolving even!"

He beamed with pride behind those thick glasses. Kukui bowed toward him and held out his hand. The boy met his grip and nervously, but happily leaned forward to touch his forehead to his dark haired friend's. 

Molayne was a real quiet kid when he first moved to Alola a couple years back. New region... new culture... new _life_... it must of been hard for him to adjust.  
Though, Kukui and Guzma made short work of cracking open that baneful bunker. Between the former's virulent smile and unwavering optimism mixed with the latter's sly smirk and Arceus given gift of comedic timing... that poor, little hapa haole sitting all by his lonesome in the back corner of the library one fateful day never stood a chance.1

"Is uhh... is Guzma gonna be ok?" he asked, eyeing the boy hunched over in the corner.

"Hm? Oh yeah! He's fine!"-Kukui turned toward him-"Yo Guzma! Ya good, right?"

He just lifted his arm slowly in a thumbs up without turning around. 

Then he waved lazily and mumbled into the wall, "Hey Big Mo."

"Hey Big G!"

"See?" Kukui said with a smile, "Just give 'im another minute."

Molayne glanced at the stack of books by Kukui and inquired, "What you guys been studying?"

"Biology."

"Neat! Not my cup of tea, but still cool."

He pushed his glasses up and began rummaging around in his bag.

"Wanna see what I've been workin' on?"

"Shoots, brother! Ya know we do!"

As the boy pulled out a clunky looking, homemade controller of some sort, Guzma let out a long sigh and shuffled back over to the table.  
He plopped down next to Kukui and across from Molayne. His face was still a little flushed, but not too bad. 

They intertwined their fingers under the table while Mo fiddled with the various knobs and antennae on the device. Next, he pulled out a small silver sphere about the size of a pokéball. He gently set it on the table and flipped some switches on the controller.

"Well, let's hope she doesn't blow up this time!"

Before anyone could protest, he pressed a large button on the center of the controller.

The ball wiggled and a spark flew out, causing the boys to jump, but... it didn't blow up. Instead, it slowly unfolded into what they immediately recognized as a little robotic joltik.

The boys laughed and awed in amazement as Molayne made it skitter around the table. 

"This is incredible!" Guzma commented, "Ya really got it to move like a real joltik!"

"Yeah but," the ash blonde began, a little bit of pink creeping into his cheeks, "she's still a little stiff. I got an idea to fix it but I'll have to go back to the old Megamart and scrounge for parts."

"What else can she do, Mo?" inquired Kukui curiously.

They cheered (relatively quietly since they are still in the library) when he had the robot jump from the table to the wall where it then crawled around effortlessly on the vertical surface.  
Then he made it jump off and land on Guzma's shoulder. It scurried up onto the top of his fluffy head. He giggled at the feeling of its tiny mechanical feet on his skin.

"Seriously, Brother! This is awesome! You's, like, the smartest guy we know!" Guzma praised as Kukui nodded in agreement. 

"Oh geez you guys... you're being too nice to me..." he mumbled looking down at the ground, "she's still got a whole lot of work to go and I got to fix that issue with the short circuiting and over heating-"

The boys exchanged looks and nodded to one another. Guzma took the mecha-joltik off his head and set it on the table.

"-not to mention the fact that I need to come up with a more efficient power supply or she can't run for more than an hour and- _GUYS_!"

They had run around the table and tackled him into a hug from either side. Molayne's face grew bright red as they hung on tight and pressed their faces against his cheeks. 

Already knowing that there's no way on Earth he can wrestle his way out of this with his scrawny frame, he just took off his glasses and hid his face in his hands.

"You're awesome!" said Kukui.

"And smart!" added Guzma.

"Guuuuuuuyssssss. Stoooooooop," the boy whined.

"Not until you say it," sang Kukui.

"Say 'My name's Big Mo and I is both smart and awesome' and we'll let go," urged Guzma with a smirk.

"Noooooooo," he squeaked pathetically.

They hugged him tighter and nuzzled closer while continuing to peer pressure him until he finally broke.

"M-my name's B-big Mo and I-I is both s-smart and awes-some..."

Guzma and Kukui released him, patting his back and mussing up his hair before retaking their seats on the other side of the table. 

With his tamato-colored face resting on the table, he grumbled, "You guys suck."

"You love us," sneered Guzma.

"Doesn't mean you don't suck," he retorted.

"Consider it your punishment for embarrassin' _my boy_ earlier," said Kukui with a wink as he threw an arm around Guzma's shoulders. 

"K.K... don't call me that in front of Mo," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Kukui's black eyes met his own.  
Oh no... he's got that look...

"Why not, Guzma? Are you not my boy?"

"I didn't say that..."

Kukui threw his other arm around Guzma's neck and purred, "Then I wanna hear you say it. Say, 'I'm your boy'."

Guzma made eye contact with Molayne across the table. He mouthed the words 'help me'. 

Molayne just leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. 

'All's fair in love and war', he supposed.

Guzma looked up at the ceiling and mumbled something.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch that? Did you get any of that, Mo?"

"No sir, not a word."

Guzma kept turning himself to face further away from Kukui, so the boy dropped his arms down and wrapped them around his waist. He rested the side of his face on Guzma's back and could hear his friend's poor heart beating fast and hard. 

"I'm your boy..." he said quietly but more clearly this time. 

"I dunno Kukui," said Molayne in an apathetic voice, "Doesn't sound very convincing to me."

"Mo's right"-he leaned up and over Guzma's back without letting go so be could growl into his ear- "Who's _my_ boy?"

Tapu-freaking-Koko he is _so_ going to get him back for this later.

"I'm your boy, Kukui..."

" _Who's_ my boy?"

" _I'm_ ya boy."

"Who's m'boy?!" 

Something suddenly clicked in the flustered Guzma's mind.  
He's bigger than Kukui... he doesn't gotta just sit here and take this!

He grabbed Kukui's wrists and twisted around. He held them in one hand and grabbed his chin with the other.

"Don't know why ya gotta ask so much, you already know what I is," he growled back, feeling extra powerful and confident now that he's embracing the fact he's got those few extra inches on his friend. He raised his eyebrow and continued, "Or do you? It's almost like you's tryin' to convince _yoself_ of it."  
He leaned in closer.  
"Well take a good long look maka nani, 'cuz this is _it_."  
He tilted Kukui's chin up slightly.  
"It's your boy, Guzma."

Kukui's eyes grew wide as Guzma kissed him unabashedly. Molayne let out a small gasp and started frantically scouring the interior of his backpack.

Guzma's _never_ initiated a kiss (or any kind of physical affection for that matter) in front of another person.  
Kukui felt weak and started to feel light headed but he closed his eyes and leaned into it anyhow. 

_*Click!*_

The two little luvdiscs probably wouldn't have noticed Molayne pull out the small, disposable camera and sneak a picture, but... the lolo forgot to turn the flash off.

They turned to him and the blood drained from his face. Their eyes were glimmering like that of an overly affectionate bewear. 

"Tapu Bulu..." he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Footnotes:**  
>  **1.** Hapa haole: Hapa is a Hawaiian term meaning someone who is partly of Asian decent. So someone who is Hapa haole is part Asian, part 'white foreigner'. In Mo's case he's Unovan and either Kantonian, Johtonian, or Hoenn (Hoennian?). 
> 
> **Other Notes:**  
>  _*slamming fists on desk*_ SOFT BOYS! SOFT BOYS! I LOVE MY SOFT BOYS SO FUCKIN' MUCH!!!!  
> Also, do y'all remember disposable cameras? Shit man, that was my childhood. Remembah that lil *zip,zip,zip* noise of the wheel thingy? Good times.  
> Alas...poor Mo's in for it now...
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Let me know your thoughts as always.  
> Love you all <3
> 
> **Links:**  
> [Tumblr page for art & updates ](http://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com)  
> [Master list of terminology](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/615394532986650624/master-list-of-terminology-jolly-rogers)  
> [HCs and Background Info](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/615439164403597312/hcs-and-background-info-jolly-rogers)  
> [References and Resources](https://zz-chikorita.tumblr.com/post/615802247274708992/note-so-i-originally-made-this-post-just-to)


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